Christmas with Death Squadron
by Girlbender875
Summary: Christmas cheer abounds throughout the galaxy, even in the Empire's most formidable fleet. The Executor is buzzing with action, a giant party is being planned, Christmas sabotage ensues, and Darth Vader just wants the holiday to be bloody well over. One-shot.


**I love Christmas, woohoo! Anyway, this is just a slice of life story, plain and simple. If you like seeing Imperials during Christmastime, then this is the fic for you! There are lots of OCs, and of course Darth Vader - because you can't have Death Squadron without him! For anyone who's read _Little One_, you'll know all the characters. For those of you who haven't, just know that this is slightly AU since Death Squadron and the Rebel Alliance technically didn't exist this early into the Empire (the date is roughly five years after RotS). **

**I recommend listening to some nice Christmas jazz while reading; I listened to some while writing and editing, and it made for a relaxing read. Grab some hot chocolate and enjoy! :)**

* * *

><p>Death Squadron was the symbol of the Empire's power. Its fleet of eleven Star Destroyers was a terrifying and awe inspiring sight to behold. Within these ships were the brightest, elitist, and most ruthless Imperials in the navy. Although its primary objective was to eliminate any insurgence against the Empire, most notably the recently formed Rebel Alliance that was beginning to cause trouble, the fleet was now simply traveling through hyperspace towards an outpost to refuel and receive new recruits.<p>

Aboard the flagship, the _Executor_, there were several places to relax. One of the most exclusive was the officers' lounge, which was close to the bridge and offered a view similar to the one on the observation deck. Couches and small tables were strewn around the room, and a protocol droid patrolled the area to ensure that any inhabitants were well taken care of.

On one of the couches closer to the window sat a skinny pale skinned man with small dark brown eyes and short spiky black hair. He was leaning his head against the back of the sofa and was looking around in contentment with a data pad balancing on his knee. His hands were folded on his lap, and he gave a smile as he glanced at the data pad. He had just been promoted to the rank of lieutenant a week ago, and he was still in such a great state of ecstasy that he would often be found floating about the ship off duty, lost in thought, much to his superiors' amusement.

Being a lieutenant meant he had finally established himself as someone with a decent amount of credibility and respect within the fleet. He already was respected by most of the _Executor_ due to his outgoing friendly personality, but the rank just seemed to finally tip the scale in his favor. He wasn't one for climbing the ladder all too quickly—he figured he'd be promoted when he was ready, so he was in no rush—but he did find it extremely satisfying to have the title lieutenant bestowed upon him… not to mention having subordinates under his command. Now _that_ was fun.

The man sighed happily and closed his eyes when he suddenly heard someone calling to him. "Koby!"

Lt. Kobayashi Beillane opened his eyes and saw a friend of his who had also just been promoted. The man had a stronger build than Koby, and his skin was slightly tanner. His large blue eyes were highly expressive as they held gentle amusement in them.

"Still in shock about the promotion?" Lt. Ooke Tunrott asked in his country Corulag drawl.

"Perhaps not shock anymore," Koby replied. "Just satisfaction. Do you have any new subordinates yet? I've got a few, including—hey, there's one! Marrax!"

An ensign who had recently joined Death Squadron jumped from his position, spilling a little of his caf. He was rather familiar with Kobayashi, and so he stood with a smile and a laugh lit up his fair face, but then he noticed Ooke and immediately sobered and saluted.

"Lieutenant," he acknowledged.

"Relax, Marrax," Koby said. "Ooke is a friend."

To emphasize his point, Ooke took off his hat and sat comfortably in a chair, nodding and introducing himself. "Ooke Tunrott. You?"

"Ens. Marrax Mothezsh, sir," the ensign replied, a little more relaxed. When beckoned over by Koby he walked to them and sat beside his superior officer.

"So, as I was saying, I've got some new subordinates, which is great, but my superior's been having some trouble with the new recruits, I hear—oh, not you, Marrax, you're fine!" Koby hastily added upon seeing the ensign's panicked expression. Then he looked at Ooke once more. "How about you?"

"Meh, I've got no complaints," Ooke sighed and then nodded to the protocol droid to get its attention. "My engineers are great. I do have to take a team and fix some training equipment in Darth Vader's training room, though. I ain't looking forward to that."

"When's that happening?" Koby asked.

"Tomorrow."

"Why are you doing that?" Marrax piped in quietly. "No offense, sir, but that seems more like an ensign's job to oversee such a task."

Ooke shrugged. "It is _Vader_ we're talking about. He wants to make sure it's done right the first time."

"Speaking of which…" Marrax trailed off nervously. "Are the rumors true about… well, you know… does Vader _really_…?"

Marrax rubbed his neck to finish his timid question, and Kobayashi and Ooke both sighed heavily.

"Only if you piss him off enough," Ooke replied. "That's why we had to get a new captain for the _Adjudicator_. Capt. Hooge had made, uh, one miscalculation too many."

"Capt. Hooge?"

"We were fighting the Rebels," Kobayashi explained. "And Hooge wanted to cut off their escape, so he ordered his ship to make a quick hyperspace jump to get behind the Rebel fleet."

"But they could have escaped from above or below, too…" Marrax intoned. "It's _space_, after all."

"We know," Ooke and Kobayashi both said in exasperation. "That's why Hooge was an idiot."

"Anyway, he made his ship jump into hyperspace, but they miscalculated the coordinates… or didn't bear in mind… whatever. Whatever they did wrong, they ended up crashing into _us_." Koby sighed. "It wasn't a good day."

"No kidding," Ooke nodded. "Our chief engineer was yelling so much I was afraid he'd burst a blood vessel. If Vader hadn't strangled Hooge I think my superior would've. But enough gloomy stuff – I came here to ask what your Christmas plans were."

Kobayashi jumped. "Christmas? Christmas? When's Christmas? What's the date?"

"Uh, Reemo 23rd," Marrax said after checking his chronometer.

"What?!" Kobayashi jumped to his feet. "Christmas is in two days! I have work to do! I have to set up a party for the ship!"

Ooke laughed. "Koby, you're insane. How could you not know that Christmas was coming up so soon? The entire engineering division has been hearing about it for the past four weeks. There was a debate about whether people could say 'merry Christmas' or listen to Christmas music or not. Some people and their advent traditions, I tell you… well they sorted it out anyway."

Upon noticing that Koby was mentally planning things out, Ooke rolled his eyes. "Koby, you're never going to get something that big set up in two days. It's just not going to happen."

Kobayashi paused from his plans and gave Ooke a defiant look. "Just watch me."

* * *

><p>Although the <em>Executor<em> was larger than its sister ships of the fleet, most of its space went to hangars full of fighters, machinery that generated shielding, weapons, and power, and command decks. Very little space was left to personal use. Enlisted men had barracks that fit roughly twenty men in one room. Lower ranking officers didn't have it much better; although there weren't nearly as many people stuffed in one space, ensigns often shared quarters with up to three other people, and decks that held quarters for lower ranking officers had one shared refresher for all. Some luxury wasn't acquired until one reached the rank of lieutenant. At that point, the officer would be given private quarters with room for a cot, dresser, and desk.

With all that in mind, Cdr. Rowan Chupa-Pau thought his quarters were practically palatial.

The commander smirked a little as he leaned back in his seat at the desk. His relatively large room held an actual twin sized bed, a dresser, a desk, and its own refresher. He had the life of luxury… when he wasn't worrying about being killed by Darth Vader. He was the officer of the deck, after all. Oh, well. He supposed it wasn't too bothersome; he did his job, and he wasn't the one who had to deal directly with the suited man, so he wasn't too upset about it. The incident with Capt. Hooge—having only happened six weeks ago—had left him unnerved, but he would shake it off eventually.

A click from his desk caught his attention, and he noticed that the person he had been talking to over the holo had returned. The man was far younger than Rowan, who himself was forty-nine (a decent age for a human, he often told himself when the younger morons joked about him being ancient – after all a man was in his prime in his forties and fifties). The younger man wore an officer's uniform bearing the rank of lieutenant, and he smiled excitedly when he noticed Rowan was watching him. His skin was tanned like the commander's, his face had the same strong jaw, and he had the same chocolate brown hair. The commander smiled fondly at his son's excitement as the lieutenant pulled out a necklace and displayed it.

"You think Mother will like it?" the lieutenant asked. "It's got a charm for different characteristics. See, this one's for gentleness, this one's for kindness, this one's for lovingness… and then this one's for bossiness. You know they had another charm for being overbearing and obnoxious, but I figured I'd quit while I was ahead."

Rowan laughed. "I'm sure she'll love it, Ralth… though why haven't you sent it already? Judging from what you said about your current location she's probably not going to get it in time for Christmas."

The lieutenant blushed and laughed sheepishly. "I kind of forgot I bought it until today. I had bought it a few months ago to plan ahead."

Rowan rolled his eyes. "Why doesn't this surprise me?"

Their conversation was interrupted when Rowan suddenly heard a loud noise against the wall in the hallway. Jumping, he advised his son to wait as he walked to his door and peeked out into the hall. He noticed a lieutenant and an ensign straining to carry a large sofa through the area.

"What are you doing?" Rowan asked.

The lieutenant, who Rowan had seen on the bridge recently, noticed the commander and then quickly said, "Sorry, sir; we got off on the wrong floor."

Rowan raised an eyebrow but said nothing else, returning to his room. He wasn't quite sure why those officers were moving the sofa, but he certainly hoped they knew that it was the captain's favorite one in the entire officers' lounge. Sitting at his desk once more, he returned his attention to his son, ignoring the strange scene he had just witnessed.

* * *

><p>Kobayashi blew out a sigh as he and Marrax finally managed to get the couch to the mess hall. Koby had decided that this would be the venue for the party since no other area in the ship (aside from hangars, and he knew the engineers and pilots would skin him alive if he threw a party there) was big enough to host an event for the entire crew. After stuffing the couch in a corner for later use, he and Marrax both collapsed on it and looked around the room.<p>

"We'll need lots of decorations," Koby sighed.

"What about a tree?" Marrax asked.

Koby moaned. "I almost forgot about the tree!"

"We could always just get a holographic one," Marrax suggested.

"Not if I can help it." Koby replied. "I swear I'm going to get a real tree – just you watch!"

Marrax gave him a skeptical look, but their conversation had to end there since the two had to report for duty. Kobayashi hastily made his way to the bridge, but on his way he noticed another familiar face, and he called out to him. The lieutenant commander paused from his work and looked at Koby curiously.

"Koby, why do you look so frantic?" the lieutenant commander asked. "What's wrong?"

"I've got to set up for a Christmas party," Kobayashi hastily said to his friend. "I need your help. You said you knew someone who could pass for the best requisition officer in the navy, right?"

"Yes," the man said slowly with a suspicious tone.

"Well I need him to requisition a Christmas tree for me."

Lt Cdr. Kerrick Chelcu gave his friend a long look before sighing. He knew Kobayashi well enough to not argue when the man was determined to do something for the entire ship. "I'll see what I can do, but my friend is stationed on the _Stalker_. He may not be able to get a tree in time."

"Just do what you can—I won't fault you for not being able to do it in time!" Kobayashi hastily said as he continued to rush by, leaving his friend rolling his eyes in exasperation.

* * *

><p>Christmas Eve started quietly with a calm breakfast. Some people tossed curious glances at the furniture that appeared to be thrown into the corner of the mess hall alongside some boxes full of something no one could see. Ooke glanced warily at it. He knew Kobayashi was determined to set up that Christmas party; hopefully he wouldn't get himself in trouble for it. Besides, there was still <em>no way<em> his friend could set up a party _that_ quickly, certainly not for the entire _Executor_.

After finishing his omelet, Ooke left the mess hall to meet up with his group of engineers. They met in one of the engineering briefing rooms, all looking fully alert and slightly nervous at their upcoming task.

"Now just relax," Ooke said immediately upon noticing their expressions. "I've already been told that Darth Vader won't be in the training room while we're fixing it up. He's probably going to be on the bridge as usual. It's just a normal job; fix things up properly and there won't be a problem. Now let's go."

When the engineers arrived at the door of the training room, they all hesitated, so Ooke led the way, opening the door with some reluctance. He himself was nervous as well, but he also kept reminding himself that Vader would be nowhere nearby. He had never met the suited man and was grateful for it, and he definitely wanted to keep it that way.

Once Ooke flicked on the lights the room was aglow, revealing a rectangular space with shelves lining one wall covered in training droids. The corners of the floor were littered with broken machinery, probably from when the suited man had torn them to pieces and then carelessly tossed them aside to get out of the way.

"You sure this isn't a housekeeping job?" one of the engineers asked. "Doesn't seem like there's much left to fix…"

"Most of these things will need replacement," another added as he examined the damage.

"I know, I know," Ooke sighed. "We're getting some more when we stop at Outpost 37752, but that won't be for a couple of days, and the last thing anybody wants is a bored Darth Vader, so in the meantime we're going to fix up what we can."

The engineers enthusiastically agreed with Ooke's reasoning, and so they all got to work. Ooke watched them, not really able to do anything else since the engineers had already begun working on everything that was salvageable. One of the engineers paused and started to chuckle, garnering Ooke's attention. "What's so funny?"

"I was just imagining if we rigged these things to sing Christmas carols," the engineer snickered. "Could you imagine Vader activating one to train and it starts singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas?"

Ooke paused, considering it, but self preservation quickly kicked the thought out of his head. "The thought of it is pretty funny until I remember that this is Darth Vader we're talking about."

"True," the engineer conceded. "That man needs to get a sense of humor."

Ooke laughed. "That _would_ be nice, wouldn't it?"

The remainder of repairs was done in silence until Ooke heard his comlink chime. Activating it, he said, "Lt. Tunrott speaking."

"This is Lt. Reukli. Lieutenant, there's a bit of an engineering problem occurring at my detention block; I could use your help to repair it."

Ooke smiled at the sound of his friend's voice, but he said, "Sorry, lieutenant; I'm doing a job right now. I can send another engineer your way, though."

"Lt. Tunrott, this is an urgent matter that I believe only you can address."

Growing slightly concerned, Ooke watched his engineers going about their work. They were almost done anyway, and this did sound serious. "I'm on my way."

Advising his engineers quickly, Ooke then departed for the detention block. When he arrived he found the detention block completely empty except for his friend, Lt. Shiine Reukli.

"Shiine, what's going on?" Ooke asked uncertainly.

"Well I told everyone else to evacuate because the scene wasn't safe," Shiine shrugged. "It'll buy us enough time. I hope I didn't interrupt anything too important."

"Well we were almost done," Ooke said, folding his arms suspiciously. "There isn't even a problem here, is there?"

Shiine smiled. "Oh, but there _is_ a problem, Ooke. It's Christmas Eve and we don't have anything festive up!"

Ooke raised his eyebrows, surprised, and then he mirrored his friend's mischievous smile.

* * *

><p>Cdr. Rowan Chupa-Pau straightened his uniform and then let out a small sigh as he glanced around the bridge. Everything was running smoothly as if it were a normal day, but he could tell the crew knew it wasn't; some were glancing at their chronometers constantly, others were fidgeting in their seats, others had to be called twice to snap out of their daydreaming spell. The bridge was still running smoothly, so it wasn't really interfering, but Rowan could tell everyone just wanted to get off duty and celebrate Christmas Eve with some drinks and calls to home.<p>

Honestly there wasn't much to do on the bridge anyway today. They were traveling in hyperspace heading towards an outpost to refuel and resupply, as well as picking up some new recruits, and they wouldn't be there for a few days. The commanding officers had work, however, simply because they had to go over material coming in from Intelligence about Rebel whereabouts. Darth Vader and the admiral had to decide where to go once their business at the outpost was finished. As such, Rowan turned expectantly to see the admiral and the _Executor_'s captain, Ton Mentzer, standing at the back of the bridge looking over some information. Darth Vader, on the other hand, was at the front of the bridge, looking at the torrential storm of hyperspace swirling around the ship. He often did this, though Rowan couldn't fathom why. In either case, he seemed oblivious to the restlessness on the bridge today, which was probably for the best.

The captain began to walk towards Vader, probably having been sent by the admiral, when his comlink chimed. Rowan listened carelessly to the conversation, overhearing the head of security complaining to the captain that the detention blocks were glowing red and green and interrogation droids were singing Christmas carols upon activation. The officer sounded quite annoyed, and the captain looked like he was beginning to mirror that, and Rowan sighed. He loved Christmas as much as the next person, but now he was going to have to deal with a grumpy captain for the rest of the day… after all, if there was one person who had no Christmas cheer (or any cheer for that matter) whatsoever, it was Capt. Mentzer.

The captain told the man to get engineering to fix the matter, and as he did so, Rowan could distinctly hear the sound of electronic voices humming Jingle Bells – that must be the interrogation droids. The idea of interrogation droids happily chirping Christmas tunes was almost too much even for Rowan's calm disposition, and he felt giggles tremble in his chest, fighting to erupt. Taking a deep breath, Rowan closed his eyes temporarily to get some control over himself, opening them when he was satisfied with the result. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one to hear the singing, and many enlisted men and lower ranking officers had strained expressions on their faces as they attempted to fight laughing out loud. Rowan still felt like he had control over himself… until he saw a dark skinned ensign puffing his cheeks and then biting his lips and then widening his eyes, and then Rowan just couldn't help it. He barked out a laugh.

Immediately the dynamic on the bridge changed. With the officer of the deck letting out a laugh, others thought it prudent to join in, and snickers began to be heard around the large room. Many people exchanged glances, which only made their amusement worse. The captain's face was furiously red, and Darth Vader turned his head slightly, though he was still looking out the window; Rowan could swear that Vader was looking at his reflection, though, and he shrank into a corner while everyone else regained some semblance of composure. As quickly as the moment came it left as everyone hastily remembered the Sith Lord in the front of the room, and then it was business as usual after the captain irritably turned his comlink off.

Rowan blew out a shaky sigh. Christmas was going to be the death of him.

On the other side of the bridge, Kobayashi nervously directed his attention towards Vader to ensure the suited man wasn't looking at him, and then he casually made his way over to Lt Cdr. Kerrick Chelcu, whom he had asked to get a tree. As Kobayashi handed a data pad to the lieutenant commander—it wasn't really intended for him, but Koby had to make their conversation look inconspicuous while they were on the bridge—he asked, "How's the tree hunting going?"

Kerrick glanced at the data pad to make the scene look normal when his eyes widened at the content. "Koby…?"

Kobayashi gave him a quizzical look and then glanced at the data pad. On it was a picture of a scantily clad Twi'lek blowing a kiss. Yelping, Koby quickly grabbed the data pad; he had snatched the pad from an ensign in an attempt to maintain a façade with Kerrick, but he didn't notice what the ensign had been looking at. His exclamation caught everyone's attention, making everyone toss a glance in his direction. Blushing furiously, Koby prayed that Vader wouldn't pay his action any mind, though the captain did look even more annoyed than before. Koby was constantly amazed that the man hadn't burst an aneurysm yet with as many times as he became angry.

Darth Vader turned around.

Feeling a cold shiver run down his spine, Koby wished he could make himself invisible. However, Vader simply walked from the front of the bridge to the back where the admiral was standing. Immense relief flooded Koby, and Kerrick almost had to catch him as his knees tried to give out. This party was going to kill him.

"I'm going to murder that ensign," Koby whispered as Kerrick helped him stand straight again.

"I'll say," Kerrick replied softly, some amusement in his tone.

"This isn't funny!" Koby hissed.

"I found it pretty hilarious, actually," Kerrick remarked. "You'll be happy to know that my friend found a tree and is attempting to get it to the _Executor_. It'll be in hangar bay 84 by the end of the shift."

Kobayashi wiped the sweat off his brow. "At least _something's_ going right."

Thankfully the rest of the shift was quiet and calm, and as officers and enlisted crew departed after switching off with the night shift, everyone went their separate ways; Kobayashi left to acquire some help in retrieving the tree and decorations, and Rowan left to take a nap in his room and calm his frayed his nerves.

On his way to the hangar, Kobayashi ran into Ooke, who was walking with Lt. Shiine Reukli. Both were laughing their heads off.

"Had fun in the detention block?" Koby asked knowingly with a smile.

"It was quite amusing seeing everyone's faces," Shiine noted. "Whoever did that was a genius."

"Right," Koby remarked, rolling his eyes.

"Aw, it's innocent fun," Ooke said. "And it's only affecting an area of the ship that isn't really being used right now. At least it's not as crazy as trying to organize a party for the entire ship."

"I'll have you know that my organizing is going quite well," Kobayashi boasted. After all, he had gotten enough furniture to turn the mess hall into a lounge, and he now had a tree and decorations to go with it. Music and food, on the other hand, were still a problem… not that he was telling _Ooke_ that.

"It's six hours to midnight," Ooke replied. "You won't have everything done in time for a Christmas party."

"You want to bet?" Koby challenged.

Ooke paused. "You know what? I do! Fifty credits says you can't get it done in time."

"Fifty? You want to go that low?" Koby scoffed, his excitement and pride getting the best of him.

Ooke smirked. "All right, then; a hundred credits."

"You're on!"

Ooke laughed. "Be ready to pay up tomorrow, then."

Kobayashi gave a defiant glare and then ran down the hall in reply. He _had_ to win that bet. He was willing to miss dinner for it… a fierce roar from his stomach told him that maybe that _wasn't_ the best idea, however, and he quickly retreated to the mess hall, avoiding Ooke. Grabbing a handful of food he shoveled it into his mouth hastily and began to flee his friend's scrutiny when he noticed some people who could help him with the party. Cdr. Mormi Leeel and Lt Cdr. Zan Dryker were both night shift officers, but their specific shift, besh shift, was off duty tonight, so both were relaxing. They would be the _perfect_ helpers.

Smiling, Koby ran over to them. After a little convincing and a lot of amusement from the two superior officers, the three made their way to the hangar. Zan then broke off, going elsewhere when Koby informed him of Christmas decorations that had been stashed in some corner of the ship since last year's Christmas celebrations; there weren't a lot of them since the parties that had taken place up to this point were always smaller, normally just for high up officers and maybe a few groups of enlisted crew who celebrated on their own time and terms. Mormi remained with Koby to help him carry the tree.

When the two reached the hangar bay, they found the tree waiting as promised, alongside a disgruntled lieutenant who was in charge of that section of hangars.

"I presume this is yours? Some lieutenant named Sanus said Lt Cdr. Chelcu had requested it." He said.

"That's right," Kobayashi smiled cheerfully. After signing off for it the other lieutenant departed, leaving Mormi and Kobayashi exchanging happy looks before realizing something.

This tree was kriffing _huge_.

"So…" Mormi stated. "How are we going to get this beast to the mess hall?"

"Well, let's make sure we can carry it first," Kobayashi said, blowing out a sigh. They had to start somewhere, after all.

Slowly turning the tree on its side, Mormi held the upper part of the tree while Kobayashi grabbed the trunk. Mormi let out several yelps as she attempted to find a good grip through all the needles and branches, but she eventually was able to hold it well enough.

"Now what?" she asked in a strained tone as the two stood there barely holding the thing off the ground.

"We have to get it to the lift," Kobayashi replied.

"This thing won't fit in the lift!"

"Well it's not like there are stairs!"

Both groaned loudly as the tree attempted fervently to squash them under its weight. Kobayashi readjusted his grip in an attempt to ensure the tree didn't get its wish.

"Maybe we could use the emergency hatch?" he offered.

"What?" Mormi looked at him incredulously over all the branches. "That's just a ladder!"

"This thing's big enough that it won't be going anywhere on us," Koby reasoned.

Mormi sighed heavily. "I guess so."

Several levels above, Rowan was enjoying his quiet stroll near the detention blocks. He had wanted to see the festivities before the grumpy commander in charge had maintenance tear everything down and ordered the engineers to fix the interrogation droids. Then he would go take a nap; today had been a little too exciting.

Since it had barely been halfway through the shift when the incident had occurred, Rowan was rather sure that everything would have been fixed at this point. However, when he did arrive at the detention blocks he could distinctly hear the commander complaining loudly as interrogation droids whirled around the area whistling White Christmas as they went. Some engineers were attempting to chase the droids while others simply stood and laughed, and maintenance was only making the red and green lighting of the place flash on and off as opposed to remaining off. Rowan would almost say they were incompetent if he hadn't noticed their devious smirks; they were having way too much fun with this.

Shrugging and chuckling in amusement, Rowan turned to leave. He had no intention of interfering; after all, he was the officer of the deck, not the head of security. As Rowan walked with a smile on his face, however, he suddenly heard a loud bang and the strange sound of something scraping the walls. Nervous, he looked outside the nearest window, his skin crawling at the idea that something could have hit them in hyperspace. However, there was nothing outside, though the noise persisted. Then he heard a groan and a snap, and he finally traced the sound to the escape hatch just beside the lift. Opening the hatch, Rowan was immediately attacked by rabid tree branches, which swung at him viciously like slingshots having been held back. Shouting in surprise and rubbing his face where the offensive things had scratched him, Rowan yelled, "What the blazes is going on in there?!"

Another grunt was heard, and after pushing the tree branches aside Rowan managed to examine the hatch. It was completely filled with the massive tree, though he did recognize a lieutenant—the same one from yesterday who had been moving the captain's couch—below the tree.

"Sorry, sir," the lieutenant hastily said as he spat out some more needles that were falling off the branches. "We're just trying to get this thing to the mess hall; it was too big for the lift."

"So I noticed," Rowan remarked irritably. "Try not to break anything in there, will you?"

"Yes sir!"

Closing the hatch and grumbling under his breath, Rowan began to wonder whether they should establish ground rules about people's Christmas celebrations. Christmas trees were harmless, as were the shenanigans occurring in the detention blocks, but still… for Rowan's sanity's sake he wished people would just celebrate with a nice relaxing drink and that was it.

Moaning, Rowan rubbed his temples. Great. Now he had a headache. He was very grateful that he wasn't on the bridge right now; he could imagine the festivities would eventually drive the captain to the bursting point, and he didn't want to be around to deal with it. But with this lovely newfound headache, Rowan wasn't keen on getting some dinner or taking a nap… at least not before stopping by the med bay first.

Sighing, Rowan took the lift to the med bay and shuffled in. It was relatively empty since most wanted to avoid getting ill or injured around this holiday. There was a stormtrooper who was towards the back with a blonde female doctor, but judging from what she was doing he was just there for a routine physical.

A nurse approached Rowan with a sly smile on her face, and her eyes occasionally glanced upwards. "May I help you, commander?"

"I just need something for a headache." Rowan explained tiredly, wondering why the nurse was acting that way. As he glanced around the room, he suddenly noticed something green hanging from the ceiling and, much to his dismay, recognized it as mistletoe. There was some everywhere, and when he looked directly above him, he noticed what was making the nurse smile. Subtly shifting away from the infernal weed, Rowan felt his cheeks flush as the nurse watched him move while she got the medicine. He then saw that the stormtrooper also had noticed mistletoe above himself and the physician, and, since he was a clone (which was rare these days), he stuttered nervously and quickly excused himself just as the doctor, who apparently was unaware of their predicament, was finishing her examination.

Blast it, Christmas really _was_ going to be the death of him. If his wife found out he had been caught under the mistletoe with another woman she'd eat him alive. Rowan moaned as his headache intensified. Tomorrow was going to be even worse, he just knew it.

Whatever. As long as he didn't run into that bloody lieutenant's Christmas tree again.

* * *

><p>Mormi and Kobayashi shouted in delight once they finally managed to yank the tree out of the emergency hatch. They were <em>finally<em> on the deck that contained the mess hall, and so the two hauled the tree over their shoulders and began to march triumphantly down the hallway.

"Clear a path!" Mormi shouted in delight. "For we've got the biggest kriffing Christmas tree you'll ever see and we're stopping for nobody!"

Her raucous yelling echoed down the hall, but when the echo returned it mingled with the distinct sound of a respirator. The sound didn't register in her mind as she delightfully led the way to the mess hall until her brain finally recognized it, and she froze in mid step just as she turned the corner and Darth Vader came into view.

Mormi was the nighttime officer of the deck, so she was familiar with the Sith Lord lingering on the bridge for most of the shift, and she often interacted with him more than daytime officers because the captain wasn't on the bridge after dinner. However, her dealings with Vader were always in a professional capacity, and while she could handle dealing with the massive murderous monolith in that capacity, almost running face first into his chest plate was enough to knock her composure out of her. Freezing, she gaped at him and could feel Kobayashi doing similar. The two hastily shuffled aside and shrank into the tree so much that it looked like the thing had grown legs and was walking itself to the mess hall. In this manner the two officers quickly slinked by the Sith Lord, who watched them pass. She couldn't see what he was doing beyond that, but she was certainly grateful they weren't being throttled for their actions.

Once the two finally reached the mess hall and placed the tree in the correct corner, they collapsed on the floor, panting for air.

"That was way too close," Kobayashi muttered.

"No kidding," Mormi agreed, and then she looked at Kobayashi with terror. "Wait—Zan's taking the lift to get here! He's going to run right into Vader!"

At that exact moment, Zan was still on the lift, making his merry way to the mess hall's deck. He had grabbed as many decorations as was physically possible. There were bags strewn all along his arms, garland was wrapped around him like a scarf, and he wore a Christmas wreath on his head whilst precariously balancing the tree's star on the top of his head. To top it off he had also wrapped himself in the tree's lights, which were flickering on and off. All these decorations put him in the festive mood, and he began to belt out Oh Christmas Tree as loudly as he could as the lift came to a halt. When the doors opened, Zan's view was immediately filled with a massive Sith Lord, and he froze in the middle of taking a gaping breath to prepare for the next stanza.

The two stood staring at each other like this for a few seconds before Zan blew out his breath with a hiss, "Shh! This party's supposed to be a surprise, milord, so be sure to keep it a secret!"

Skipping along while also still balancing the star (a feat he was very proud to accomplish), Zan made his way to the mess hall, leaving the Sith Lord behind. Strangely enough, Vader wasn't moving even though the lift doors slid shut without him entering. Odd.

When Zan entered the mess hall he was immediately swarmed by his two friends. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great!" Zan laughed. Then he paused, confused. "Why?"

Mormi rolled her eyes. "Never mind. I'm glad you managed to get all this stuff."

"I got more than that!" Zan replied happily. "I found some musicians who were willing to play for the party!"

"That's terrific!" Kobayashi piped in. "Now all we have to do is set everything up and invite everyone!"

"Too bad Darth Vader doesn't celebrate Christmas," Zan said thoughtfully. "He definitely looks festive enough; his chest plate glows red and green!"

Mormi and Kobayashi both stared at Zan. "You're completely insane, you know that?"

Zan laughed. "You're probably right. Let's get this set up!"

* * *

><p>Christmas Day finally arrived, and people awoke to find messages sent to each and every one of them inviting them to a Christmas party beginning at 1700 and going through the night. Ooke stared at the invitation in horror and surprise. How in the blazes had Koby managed to pull it all together?! Now he was going to have to pay up!<p>

The day shift slid by thankfully quickly and quietly. As the day shift came to an end, everyone began to file into the mess hall and they were all dazzled to see the decorations strewn all over the room. A massive tree stood in the center of the back wall as the main decoration, and it was stunningly decorated. Musicians were off to the side playing Christmas tunes.

Ooke shook his head as Kobayashi approached him with a smug smirk. "I don't know how you did it, but I still say you're crazy."

Kobayashi laughed, and Ooke noticed that the man had circles under his eyes. "I _am_ crazy, it's true, but an all-nighter was all I needed to finish preparing – now pay up!"

As Ooke reluctantly slapped a hundred credits into Koby's palm, across the room, Rowan entered and was actually happily surprised. The aggressive Christmas tree had been tamed with a massive amount of lights, ornaments, and garland, and the music that was playing was quite pleasant. Finally, he could just _relax_.

Glancing around the room Rowan saw that almost everyone had responded to the invitations. Curious, he wondered if the captain had shown up. He'd be surprised if the man did; Capt. Mentzer wasn't known for his social personality. Rowan's suspicions were confirmed when he saw no sign of the captain, but he did notice that even the _admiral_ had shown up. Shaking his head, he figured that the captain was likely brooding in some corner of the ship… probably alongside Vader.

In reality, the captain was just too exhausted to put up with anything. The hullabaloo from yesterday had left him with a migraine, and all he wanted now was just to go to the officers' lounge—which would be happily empty due to the ludicrous party happening in the mess hall—and relax with a nice drink.

Upon entering the lounge, however, the captain froze in the doorway when he noticed something important was missing. "Where in the blazes is my couch?!"

* * *

><p>He hated Christmas.<p>

Of all the times of the year for everyone to _completely_ lose their minds, it was definitely this one that annoyed him the most. Everyone became bolder and insufferably cheerful, and the pathetic idea of hope and happiness wafted in the air.

He kriffing _despised_ Christmas.

And why shouldn't he? He above everybody else in that fleet knew that there was no such thing as hope, no such thing as happiness. After everything that had happened to him, he had at least learned _that_ much.

Vader groaned as he thought about the antics he had been witnessing the past few days. His men went absolutely insane for this holiday, and it drove _him_ absolutely insane.

Entering his quarters, Vader did his best _not_ to think about his own past Christmases. Fleeting images of clones and Jedi laughing and trying to hold onto some semblance of cheer amidst campaigns passed through his mind, but he violently shoved them out. _No_, he was _not_ going to dwell on it anymore.

A small part of him still missed those times, though. And he hated himself for that. He didn't deserve to miss those times. He was the one who was stupid enough to get himself into this mess, he was stupid enough to actually _trust_ people—to trust Padmé, to trust the Jedi, and then to trust _Palpatine_.

Vader would have sighed if he had control over his own breathing. Looking out the window, he instead settled for brooding. Even meditating wouldn't work tonight; if he delved into the Force he'd just sense the "Christmas atmosphere" throughout the ship and it would just make him nauseous.

As Vader watched the kaleidoscope of hyperspace, he glanced briefly at his own reflection and was immediately amazed and terrified to see his healthy twenty-two-year-old self staring back at him looking just as amazed. In the blink of an eye his reflection was normal again, and Vader felt his heart rate, which had skyrocketed, begin to slow once more. He really _was_ thinking too much about previous Christmases.

Blast it he wanted to hate Christmas _so badly_… but kriffing hell, it was Anakin's favorite day of the year.

Controlling his urge to gag, Vader muttered. "Merry Christmas, everyone."

Then he paused and thought, _Bah humbug!_

_Fin_

* * *

><p><strong>Merry Christmas, everyone!<br>**


End file.
